Horse troughs only come in metal because horses have a bad habit of chewing things, if they were made of plastic, they would be chewed up in no time. The water needs to be heated in winter so that ice won't form. The horses can't get to the water if it is frozen over.

Not all horses have chewing problems, and the ones that do usually prefer wood, my grandmother has all rescues, she has only ever had one who chewed... or cribbed.... and he never touched the trough, he prefered the wood barn (she switched over to a metal barn after rescueing him)

This is like the one my grandmother has... but hers is more rectangular.... they are heated and also have water pumps/filters attached so the water stays clean and is easy to refill
She also feeds her horses, goats, and donkey from the same "plastic" material...

@Kfryman: I hope so as well. Its the back up male that I tried and i'm going to use him again because he built a bubblenest in his own tank and the original male did not. I was pretty shocked because the original male was only determined to get his "revenge" though the back up is a bit less determined to just nip at her. He spends much more time swimming around and chasing her when he gets "bored". He hasnt made a bubblenest yet, but it is just bugging me because all of my males in the past have made bubblenest and its quite annoying when i expect one there, but i have hope.

I am also trying the bubble rap thing. They look at it crazy and i dont know how well it is going to work. Any opinions on this?

I agree with darkmoon. That might just be a little harder on me and with such limited space it wouldnt be very smart to get one.

And the bin would be pretty reliable with humidity and heat. The bettas labrynth organ will become stronger with humid air. Also im sure it would be a lot cheaper because ive seen 30 gallon bins for about $15-$20. Pretty good deal.

Im excited!! I am noticing much more flirtatious behavior. The male has built the tiniest nest and from what I see, they are currently in the "LURING" phase. He gets frustrated and goes after her lol. The female is really playing hard to get. She is in the head down position with her fins clamped but in the "ready to breed" (submissive) way.

I thought it was going to be impossible to see virticle bars on the female but it you pay close attention to the way she is acting and look close enough you will slightly see her pattern and the light and darker areas. Its pretty neat.

Ill do an update of how they are completely acting with pictures and a video (remember my breeding documentary?) well i need to record the "luring" phase to add in there i will aslo post my youtube channel for you to see the other videos of the pair if you'd like. All upcoming news after i wash up for bed. Haha sounds like a 7 year old when i put it like that.

I used bubble wrap on my last spawn and it was successful. But, same as not all make will bubblenest under IAL, some may not like the bubblewrap.
Glad they're getting flirty, hopefully this spawn turns out really well for your documentary.

Thank you Bambi. That helped and I've decided to take the bubblerap out because he doesnt seem to have interest in it at all. He actually started a tiny one outside of under the bubblenest so I put the old fashioned 1/2 cup "method". He liked that one a lot more and is more willing to make the nest under that.

UPDATE:

Okay Pictures!!!

This is the bubblenest the back up Male made in his OWN 2.5 gallon:

This is the bubblenest when he first started under the 1/2 styro cup about 10 minutes ago from:

Just a few other pictures I'm sure you guys will enjoy
Female (Korra):
She seems a lot more "eggy" (NOW) than in the picture.

The Back Up Male "Guarding" his nest:

And Finally the Video/s. I think this one will work GREAT in my documentary. Part 5-2 is coming soon because he is still trying to lure her toward the nest and SHE is being the stubborn one. Though I don't blame her after being chased for HOURS! lol

Got my fingers crossed that all will work out well. I hope you get the perfect pictures for your documentary. (Sure is hard typing with crossed fingers, LOL)

Thanks. Yeah some of the pictures are just a bit blurry for the documentary IMO, compared to other pictures ive taken with my camera, but there are some that are really good. I think that I over think things too much when trying to do something. (im a perfectionist).